nigel-t's - Favourites List
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"Molly's Game" is based on the incredible true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), a former Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested by armed FBI agents. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey (Idris Elba), who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. - Director:
- Aaron Sorkin
- Cast:
- Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba, Kevin Costner
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Loosely inspired by the early childhood experiences of many of the notorious dictators of the 20th Century, 'The Childhood of a Leader' is an ominous portrait of emerging evil. A young American boy is living with his family in France in 1918 while his father works for the US government on the creation of the Treaty of Versailles. What he sees helps to mould his beliefs, and we witness the birth of a terrifying ego. - Director:
- Brady Corbet
- Cast:
- Liam Cunningham, Robert Pattinson, Stacy Martin
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Baby Driver (2017)Drive Baby Drive
Baby (Ansel Elgort) - a talented, young getaway driver - relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. When he meets the girl of his dreams (Lily James), Baby sees a chance to ditch his criminal life and make a clean getaway. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey), he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom. - Director:
- Edgar Wright
- Cast:
- Walter Hill, Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal
- Formats:
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The Handmaiden (2016)Ah-ga-ssi
In 1930s Korea, during Japanese occupation, Sookee (Tae-ri Kim) is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress who lives a secluded life on an enchanting and lavish estate with her domineering uncle. Yet Sookee has a secret, she has been recruited by a swindler posing as an illustrious Count to spy on the Lady so he can eventually seduce her and steal her fortune. However, this swindler is not the only one with a desire to seduce. - Director:
- Chan-wook Park
- Cast:
- Min-hee Kim, Jung-woo Ha, Jin-woong Jo
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Audition (1999)Ôdishon
Recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, so he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. They take advantage of their position in a film company by staging an audition to find the perfect woman. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. But soon things take a very dark and twisted turn as we find that Asami isn't what she seems to be... - Director:
- Takashi Miike
- Cast:
- Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki
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A family must navigate their lives in silence to avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Knowing that even the slightest whisper or footstep can bring death, Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and Lee (John Krasinski) are determined to find a way to protect their children at all costs while they desperately search for a way to fight back. - Director:
- John Krasinski
- Cast:
- Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds
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Lion (2016)A Long Way Home
Five-year-old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) gets lost on a train travelling away from his home and family. Frightened and bewildered, he ends up thousands of miles away, in chaotic Kolkata. Somehow he survives living on the streets, escaping all sorts of terrors and close calls in the process, before ending up in an orphanage that is itself not exactly a safe haven. Eventually Saroo is adopted by an Australian couple (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham), and finds love and security as he grows up in Hobart. As an adult, not wanting to hurt his adoptive parents' feelings, Saroo (Dev Patel) suppresses his past, his emotional need for reunification and his hope of ever finding his lost mother and brother. But a chance meeting with some fellow Indians reawakens his buried yearning. Armed with only a handful of memories and his unwavering determination, Saroo sets out to find his lost family and finally return to his first home. - Director:
- Garth Davis
- Cast:
- Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara
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BlacKkKlansman (2018)Black Klansman
From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. In the early 1970's, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) becomes the first African-American detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a difference, he bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. He recruits a seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation. Together, they team up to take down the extremist organisation aiming to garner mainstream appeal. 'BlacKkKlansman' offers an unflinching, true-life examination of race relations in 1970's America that is just as relevant in today's tumultuous world. - Director:
- Spike Lee
- Cast:
- John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier
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Although Dido Elizabeth Belle (Mbatha-Raw) an 18th century English woman of mixed race, is raised in privilege by her aristocratic great-uncle (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson), she is denied a proper social standing because of her skin colour. But when Dido falls in love with a young idealist lawyer (Sam Reid) who aspires to create positive change, she finds herself caught between two worlds. With everything to lose, she struggles to convince those around her - and the society in which she lives - to overcome their biases and accept her fully. Only if she succeeds will she find true happiness in this exquisite masterpiece that also stars Miranda Richardson, Penelope Wilton and Matthew Goode. - Director:
- Amma Asante
- Cast:
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Matthew Goode, Emily Watson
- Formats:
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Only the Brave (2017)No Exit / Granite Mountain Hotshots
All men are created equal...then, a few become firefighters. 'Only the Brave', based on the True Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of firefighters that, through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect communities, become one of the most elite firefighting teams in America. As most of us run from danger, they run toward it - watching over lives and homes, and forging a unique brotherhood that comes into focus with one fateful fire. - Director:
- Joseph Kosinski
- Cast:
- Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges
- Formats:
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13 Minutes (2015)Elser
In 1939, when Hitler tricked millions of people at the height of his power, one man stood against him; Georg Elser (Christian Friedel). Disparaged as an assassin, he was one of the greatest resistance fighters of the Second World War. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, "13 Minutes" paints the breath-taking story of a man who could have changed world history and saved millions of human lives. - Director:
- Oliver Hirschbiegel
- Cast:
- Christian Friedel, Katharina Schüttler, Burghart Klaussner
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In 1988 Tehran, Shideh's attempts to rejoin medical school are thwarted as a consequence of her politically active history. Her husband is sent off to serve in the Iran-Iraq War while Iraqi air raids draw perilously close to their own apartment. As neighbours and friends flee from a city in chaos she is left alone with her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) who becomes increasingly ill and seemingly disturbed. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) initially dismisses her tantrums over a missing doll but is soon terrified they've been targeted by a djinn - a malevolent spirit that steals from those it seeks to possess. - Director:
- Babak Anvari
- Cast:
- Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi
- Formats:
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You Were Never Really Here (2017)A Beautiful Day
From celebrated British director Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin), 'You Were Never Really Here' is a powerful and intensely thrilling reworking of the crime genre. A tormented but brutal hired gun sets out to rescue a young girl from a sex ring, only to find himself weathering a storm of violent vengeance when matters go awry. Featuring a career best performance from Joaquin Phoenix as a solitary and deeply troubled underworld mercenary, 'You Were Never Really Here' is a stylish and brutal tale of vengeance and corruption. - Director:
- Lynne Ramsay
- Cast:
- Joaquin Phoenix, Cristina Dohmen, Dante Pereira-Olson
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From award-winning documentary filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, the directors of 'Meru', comes 'Free Solo' a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world's most famous rock...the 3,200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park...without a rope. Celebrated as one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, Honnold's climb set the ultimate standard: perfection or death. Succeeding in this challenge places his story in the annals of human achievement. 'Free Solo' is an edge-of-your seat thriller and an inspiring portrait of an athlete who challenges both his body and his beliefs on a quest to triumph over the impossible, revealing the personal toll of excellence. The result is a triumph of the human spirit that represents what The New York Times calls "a miraculous opportunity for the rest of us to experience the human sublime". - Director:
- Jimmy Chin
- Cast:
- Dierdre Wolownick, Tommy Caldwell, Jimmy Chin
- Formats:
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Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing. From the visionary mind of Ari Aster comes a dread-soaked cinematic fairytale where a world of darkness unfolds in broad daylight. - Director:
- Ari Aster
- Cast:
- Florence Pugh, Linnea Larsdotter, Jack Reynor
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